As you might of guessed I jumped from the K100d to the K7. I loved my K100d, it was, for me, the perfect DSLR to learn on. Now that I am using the K7 I have noticed a huge jump in noise in my photographs and I am wondering if this is normal for these Higher MP sensors? I found that when using a Jpeg format on the K7 there is a reasonable amount of noise even at ISO-100. When I switch to RAW/DNG the noise is massively reduced (probably because I am using photoshop to convert to Jpeg). I looked back on my K100d photos and there are obviously some issues with detail, but the noise is barely noticeable when shooting Jpeg in camera.

Anyone had the same experience? Do others find shooting in Raw a necessity as well?

I have been assuming that 100% magnification is the same as photoshop's "actual pixels" magnification setting??

Even so, I am talking about when you look at the full image (lets say on a computer screen) the K7 has clearly noticable noise on areas of solid colour verses the K100d that (probably due to the lower MP sensor) seems to create more "uniform" areas and produces a smoother looking image.

I have been assuming that 100% magnification is the same as photoshop's "actual pixels" magnification setting??

It is. Looking at images this way is "unfair" to the K-7, because you're looking at a lot more detail, as if you were "zoomed in" a lot more.

Quote:

Even so, I am talking about when you look at the full image (lets say on a computer screen) the K7 has clearly noticable noise on areas of solid colour verses the K100d that (probably due to the lower MP sensor) seems to create more "uniform" areas and produces a smoother looking image.

Two things to check:
- disable "highlight DR recovery" if it is enabled. This can lead to increased noise in the shadows.
- do not use "fine sharpness", it also sharpens noise.

Does anyone else notice a large reduction in noise if you shoot RAW and change to Jpeg in Photoshop?

To be honest, I find the In-Camera JPEG Noise Reduction in the K-7 is cr*p....
even the Pentax Camera Utility which came in the box can do a better job removing noise during RAW -> JPEG conversion.
Any specialised NR software like Noiseware or Noise Ninja would be much better.

Ah, the nice thing is the K-7 is very good at retaining details at High ISO, so you really have a high quality image after you have cleaned out the noise.

I've kept my K100d mainly to use for time-lapse photography, so as not to wear out the shutter mechanism on my new K-7. Of course the K100d can be a bit annoying for that kind of contionuous shooting, as at 1 fps it still struggles to clear the buffer in time. Still, this is one application where the lower pixel count is not a disadvantage but a boon.

Also, the K100d is now my "banger" camera - I can take it where it's likely to take a beating and not worry about it